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Two Saddam aides hanged

Iraq's former intelligence chief and ex-Revolutionary Court head are hanged at dawn.

15 Jan 2007 15:18 GMT

Al-Tikriti was Saddam's half-brother and a former head of the intelligence services [GALLO/GETTY]

The government spokesman said that al-Tikriti and Bandar were treated with dignity before the execution and those who attended were asked to sign a document saying they would not taunt or insult the men during the event.

"Their rights were not violated. There was no chanting," he said.

Al-Tikriti's head was detatched from his body during the hanging, al-Dabbagh added. Another official called it was an "act of God".

The bodies have been turned over to police and family members have been asked to retrieve them for burial, a source told the AFP news agency.

The United Nations had urged Iraq not to go ahead with the executions.

Death sentences

The two men were sentenced to death for crimes against humanity on November 5 for their part in the killings of the Shia men and youths in 1982 in retaliation for an attempted assassination of Saddam in the town of Dujail, north of Baghdad.

They had been due to be executed within a month of losing their appeal on December 26.

The pair were to have been hanged along with Saddam on December 30, but Iraqi authorities decided to execute Saddam alone on what Mowaffak al-Rubaie, Iraq's National Security adviser, called a "special day".

The executions reportedly occurred in the same Saddam-era military intelligence headquarters building in north Baghdad where the former leader was hanged two days before the end of 2006, an Iraqi general, who declined to be named, told AP.

Talabani had called for a delay in the executions last Wednesday, saying: "In my opinion we should wait ... We should examine the situation."

Talabani - who for two-decades helped lead a Kurdish revolt against Saddam - has few real powers under the Iraqi constitution and had no powers to reduce or block the sentence against the two men.

Unruly scene

Images of Saddam's execution showed an unruly scene that brought worldwide criticism of the Iraqi government.